— The Horta’s plea from “The Devil in the Dark” episode on the original “Star Trek”

Once upon a time, Beaver Cleaver astutely noted that “History is mostly killing people.” Actually, the Beave was a little too focused, as history is all about humans killing everything, having eradicated countless species over our mostly documented 10,000-or-so-year audition on Earth.

Going against the grain and showing us a better way is SPARC, the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center. In operation since 2012, SPARC is a no-kill option for our furry friends. It’s hosting a fundraiser Saturday night at the venerable Ventura Theater, with country music and Americana singer/songwriter Lacy J. Dalton headlining and actor Malcolm McDowell serving as emcee.

Jean-Marie Webster, who runs SPARC, explained what this thing is all about during a recent phone call.

“It’s really for the medical. We have such high medical bills because we’re no-kill. We’ve treated animals for all sorts of things, and oftentimes, they live.”

Ojai dog lover and acclaimed actor McDowell seems stoked to be part of this project, and his son, Beckett, will play a 45-minute set.

“I am involved with one of the absolute finest organizations anywhere,” McDowell said. “You know that they’re a totally non-kill, and I really support them, so that’s why I’m coming out to do this and give them my full support; and of course, everybody involved with the concert believes in it, so we’ll put aside a little bit of our time for this and the animals and hopefully make a difference. ... I guess if I was absolutely nailed down, I’d have to say I’m a dog person, but I do love cats. We need them around here.”

Dalton will be driving to SoCal from Nevada, where she lives with a bunch of happy dogs. She discussed that and more during a recent phoner.

So why are so many people so cruel to so many animals?

I think a lot of it is people aren’t in touch with themselves. They’re not in touch with the Earth. A lot of people’s feet in cities have never touched the earth, so they don’t know the connection. They don’t know that everything is interconnected. In my belief, there’s only one spirit that connects everything. They don’t know that, and they don’t have a clue about it, so you can marginalize things, and these animals are so accepting. Animals accept. They accept so much and they’re such wonderful teachers, but they cannot speak. They cannot tell you when they’re in agony. If you can’t tell, it’s because you’re just so closed off yourself, you can’t feel. A lot of people simply can’t feel. That’s one of the reasons I do music.

So tell me, how’d you get involved with SPARC?

First of all, it’s the best project of its type that I’ve ever been involved with. When they say, ‘No kill, no excuses,’ they mean ‘No kill, no excuses.’ The only time animals get put down is when they absolutely can’t be saved and can’t live. I remember when I lived back in Tennessee and the city pound said they were no-kill but when they got overcrowded, they’d take the dogs out to some rural area and were putting down 400 companion animals a month. That’s what SPARC doesn’t do. SPARC always does the right thing. If they find there’s an elder that can’t keep a companion animal that might need a cancer surgery or whatever, and the elder can’t afford it, a lot of times they’ll step in and deal with that stuff. They’re the paradigm for other shelters. This just isn’t a shelter I like; it’s a shining example of how society should treat its animals because you can tell by the way a society treats its animals how that society treats its people.

I know. It’s just a good thing and an incredible project for that area.

Yeah, business has been booming for them, especially after all the fires. People either gave up their pets, lost their homes or lost their pets — it was a disaster of the first magnitude.

I guess nature has a way of healing itself pretty quickly after a fire.

It’ll probably do better without us. Humans are like parasites on this Earth.

You know, sometimes I feel the same way when I’m flying over a big city and it looks like a blight. There’s a lot of really conscious people on this planet and there are a lot that are just at a different stage of development of their consciousness, and those people of lower consciousness seem to be the ones capable of doing horrible things.

So how’s the music biz treating you?

Well, you know, I’ve been an independent artist since 1992, which is probably why everybody thinks I’m dead, but I still work. And for this Ventura thing, I’ve got new music. I have a new EP called “Scarecrow.” I think you’d have to call it Americana. I make music to heal people. That’s what I do. I like to do music — it’s not about money. The better I know what hurts in me, the better I can help other people. I’d be worthless if I hadn’t had a lot of experiences that made me go deep inside myself, so I have to be grateful for that. Artists cut their ears off — we’re crazy people. We go way out on the edge, and sometimes we bring back gems.

Absolutely. OK, Lacy J., that should be more than I need to know. I’ll pet my cats for you and you can pet your dogs for me.